


Concerning Placement

by CoffeeJay



Series: Rare Pairs and Requests [8]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Christmas, First Kiss, M/M, Mistletoe, One Shot, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:00:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23401864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeeJay/pseuds/CoffeeJay
Summary: Alfred is oblivious, and Kiku wouldn't want to break tradition.
Relationships: America/Japan (Hetalia)
Series: Rare Pairs and Requests [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1058018
Comments: 9
Kudos: 46





	Concerning Placement

“--and we can put these lights around the banisters, and then the garland, and-- oh, heck yeah! I almost forgot I had this!”

When Alfred plucked a strange sprig of greenery from the box, Kiku bent closer to better scrutinize it. “What--”

“Mistletoe!” Alfred blurted. He scrounged around for a tack, heedless of Kiku’s patient frowning, and then flitted to the nearest doorway. Kiku followed. “You can’t have a Christmas party without it!”

“You’ve said that about half the things we’ve put up so far.”

“And I mean it every time.” Alfred screwed up his face, and, seemingly dissatisfied with the present doorway, continued to another. “This stuff stays up for a month, _at least_. Everything’s gotta have some kind of importance. Or just look really cool. Or both.”

“And which is this?” Kiku asked as they halted once again. “Functional, or decorative, or--”

“Hey, could you pass me that chair? Yeah, that-- Thanks.”

Kiku knew better than to push his question in the midst of Alfred’s laser focus. Instead, he watched from the threshold, silent and intrigued, as Alfred mounted the chair, centered the mistletoe in the doorway above him, and tacked it up, his tongue pinched between his teeth all the while. “There!” Alfred declared at last, hopping down with a grin. He planted his fists on his hips and admired his handiwork. “Perfect. It’s both, by the way.”

Kiku followed his gaze to the greenery above and asked, “Oh?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of a tradition,” Alfred explained. He stood on his tip-toes and adjusted the leaves as he continued, “You invite a bunch of your friends over, and the party gets hopping, right? And people _know_ the mistletoe is there. But they always forget!” He plopped back on his heels with a mischievous grin. “Two people get caught beneath it without realizing it, and then the magic happens.”

“What magic?” Kiku prompted him, deeply intrigued.

“If you get caught under mistletoe, you have to kiss!” Alfred exclaimed. “It’s the number one rule of Christmas! Like, last year, Mattie got caught under the mistletoe with--”

The rest of Alfred’s anecdote was lost on Kiku, drowned by the heat rising to his cheeks. He glanced up to confirm it: the mistletoe above. Himself and Alfred just below. Alfred was chattering away, but perhaps there was another reason he hadn’t moved.

The number one rule of Christmas.

Before the squirming in his chest could force him to buck tradition, Kiku swooped forward and pressed a kiss to Alfred’s cheek, causing Alfred to stop short, and blink, and turn rosy all over.

“It’s-- It’s tradition, right?” Kiku tried, suddenly unbearably hot. He half hoped he would melt away. “Two people, under the-- under the mistletoe? They have to--”

“Oh,” Alfred laughed, his confusion bubbling into a bright grin. “Yeah! Yeah, that’s... that’s right.”

“I hope that was, er, acceptable?” said Kiku. “To kiss you, erm... On-- On the cheek?”

Alfred reddened some more and replied, “That was totally fine. Yeah, just, uh-- well,” he laughed, and Kiku’s heart did an odd twist. “The mouth is totally fine, too. My-- My mouth. Other people might not, uh... I mean, if you want to kiss other people on the mouth, like, that’s whatever, you know, if they’re cool it’s cool, I’m just saying--”

“That if we were to meet again, um,” Kiku finished for him, his heart wobbling uncertainly in his chest, “under the mistletoe, we-- we might...?”

There was something like hope in Alfred’s eyes when their gazes met.

The doorbell rang.

Clearing his throat, Kiku only managed a feeble, “You should probably get that,” before Alfred bolted away, leaving Kiku to try to parse out whether he was relieved or disappointed.

**Author's Note:**

> I do take requests! Crossposted to tumblr @ hetaliapurgatory.tumblr.com


End file.
